Clinical feasibility of immediate overnight switching from slow-release carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine in Korean patients with refractory partial epilepsy
Abstract: We assessed the clinical variables predicting the feasibility of immediate overnight switching from slow-release carbamazepine to oxcarbazepine in Korean patients with refractory partial epilepsy. Thirty patients aged 15 years or older with refractory partial epilepsy, who had been treated with slow-release carbamazepine as monotherapy or in combination therapy, were switched overnight from slow-release carbamazepine (mean dose at switching, 900mg/day) to oxcarbazepine. Of these 30 patients, 29 (96.7%) had been treated with a slow-release formulation of carbamazepine. The proportion of patients with polytherapy was 85.3%. Overall, 9 of 30 (30%) switched patients experienced clinically significant adverse events until 2 weeks after switching, including 2 with seizure aggravation. ...

Case report Diagnostic difficulties of paroxysmal symptoms in a boy with Parry-Romberg syndrome
Parry-Romberg syndrome is characterized by progressive unilateral facial atrophy affecting subcutaneous tissue, cartilage and bone structures. Headache attacks and epilepsy are commonly associated with this syndrome but the underlying pathophysiology is still unknown. A case of a 12-year-old boy with Parry-Romberg syndrome and syringomyelia suffering from severe headache attacks and epileptic seizures is reported herein. Headache attacks were associated with bilateral autonomic symptoms and hyperventilation and were usually followed by complex partial and sometimes by secondary generalized tonic seizures. Detailed neuroimaging examinations were performed (magnetic resonance imaging [MRI] of the head, orbits, and spinal cord, MR angiography, and MR spectroscopy of the cerebellum). The EEG p...